Curbside pickup for Christmas trees in Vancouver delayed until next weekend

Christmas has long passed. The decorations are put away, the last of the festive candles burned low. But still, your needle-shedding tree remains.

In Vancouver, the time has come to kick it gentlyit to the curb. Or, at least, it almost has.

Although the city originally planned Christmas tree pickup this weekend, itannounced on Thursday that collection would be delayed for one more week, as crews continue to work to clear the backlog of garbage from alleys built up over the holidays when collection was paused.

Trees and extra leaves will be collected from homes with regular green bin service on Jan. 22 and 23. Trees need to be on the curb before 7 a.m. PTon the Saturdayto avoid being missed.

Families saying goodbye to their trees also need to remove all the tinsel, lights, decorations, bags and tree stands. Many cities won't be able to compost the trees if any seasonal bling is still attached.

Artificial trees or trees sprayed with artificial snow or foam won't be accepted, either.

Trees collected by the cityare turned into compost at the Vancouver landfill, according to the city. Officials sell the compost to municipal parks departments, professional landscapers and home gardeners.

Elsewhere across the province, curbside pickup and drop-off programsare continuing until the end of the month. The Recycling Council of British Columbia publishesa full list by regioneach year.